The Angel of Ashes
The Angel of Ashes The Angel of Ashes Dubhe likes to hide in the sidelines of the affairs of Edenea, until the moment he wishes to strike. Many Kings have chosen to disobey Dubhe, and sworn against him in their search for supremacy in Edenea, and some of them fell at the hands of Dubhe’s armies, though these tales have been so exaggerated and construed, that many don’t know whether to believe them or if they are fairy tales or myth. Dubhe’s armies come in many forms and each serve a very specific purpose. Dubhe has the Death knights and the Guardians, who serve as individuals on Edenea, serving his bidding in specific ways. These are controlled by ‘The Hand of Dubhe’ as slaves and, despite having independent thought, are confined to their task for eternity until they are released from ‘The Hand of Dubhe’. Another form Dubhe’s armies take are the ‘Angels’. Dubhe chooses the warriors who will become his angels very carefully, and those who are chosen are usually the greatest warrior in Edenea at that given moment in time. Dubhe watches the warrior throughout their life, watching their decisions and choices as they go through life. Dubhe waits until the moment of their death. He watches them closely, and how they die, and only those who suffer the most destructive and agonizing torturous death are chosen by Dubhe. He takes them, body and soul, and ascends them into the heavens where their agonizing transformation begins. The warrior is re-animated, finding himself in a cold, dark cell where his transformation begins. Every bone in his body will break, his flesh will tear and splinter from his body very, very slowly over the course of decades or even centuries. His body contorts to twisted shapes and his mouth begins to seal over with skin, disappearing into what will become his face. His fingers stretch and become elongated to fit the weapon of the angels more ergonomically, all the while the warrior spends years screaming in agonizing pain. The skin of the warrior tears and reattaches itself to conform with the legions of angels and finally, his armor is infused with his skin, bone and flesh, to ensure it can never be removed, sealing his fate as a soldier of Dubhe’s legion for eternity. Once the transformation is complete, the angel will now swear his allegiance to Dubhe or die. Once the Angel has sworn allegiance, Dubhe can now control the angel as if the angel was his very own limb. The angel becomes an extension of Dubhe as a claw becomes a part of the wolf. Dubhe has very seldom used his legions of angels in combat, but each time they were dispatched, victory was certain. One such angel, who broke the conformity of the other angels, is the ‘Angel of Ashes’. The Angel of Ashes was once a great warrior, fighting on the frontlines of the vile king Ummar-Dur in the first era. The warrior took pride in his capture of villagers and enjoyed collecting the heads of those who had fallen beneath his blade. It was said that he would wear the skulls of the fallen as decorations and store them in his home in the capital of Ratok-Ed. When Ratok-Ed was invaded, the warrior stood strong at the gates of the capital. He held his ground with pride and ferocity, however once the enemy stood before him, he fell to their attacks. The warrior fought hard, however when the enemy overpowered him, they set fire to him. He burned before the gates of the capital, watching the enemy stream through the gates of his city while he felt his own flesh fuse with his armor under the heat of flame and while his skin began to flow loose from his flesh. At the final moment of death, Dubhe chose the warrior, burned to the core. Dubhe took his corpse and brought it to the heavens, in preparation for re-animation and angel contortion. The warrior screamed for years, denouncing his past and begging for death. Decades passed while Dubhe forced life into the warrior’s scorched and charred remains, while the warrior screeched for the cold embrace of death. Once the transformation had been completed, the warrior had become and angel, exactly as Dubhe had planned him to be, however at the moment that the angel was due to swear his allegiance to Dubhe, sealing his soul forever, the angel shouted: “You, Dubhe, you will NEVER HAVE MY SOUL”. At this moment the heavens shook from the awesome power of the angel’s defiance. Dubhe had lost control and the floor of the heavens began to tear open. The angel fell from the heavens and landed on Edenea with explosive power, finding himself wandering the wastes of Edenea searching for other sentient beings. It took several days for the Angel to realize what had happened, and that the Edenea he had landed upon was very different from the Ratok-Ed he had fought and died for. The angel became known as the angel of ashes over time, due to the nature of his death. He now resides within the ruins of a temple, honouring a long forgotten god, haunting the halls and revering his solitude. The Angel of Ashes is completely silent as he has lost the ability to speak, though some have said that he holds the power of telepathy to communicate. He fights with pure grace, unlike any other demon, and barely moves excepting that.